“Biologists believe these cases may stem from humans feeding wild dolphins,” the agency said in a statement. “Dolphins fed by people learn to associate people and boats with food, which can put them in harmful situations. Dolphins may suffer fatal impacts from boat strikes, entanglement in or ingestion of fishing gear, and acts of intentional harm like these. You can prevent harm to wild dolphins by not feeding or attempting to feed them.”

If you have information about the deaths, call NOAA at 1-800-853-1964.